Burgess Seed & Plant Co
reviews and complaints

Burgess Plant and Seed/Gurney/EBurgess should not be in business. THE most unprofessional company I have ever dealt with.

On 5-21-23, I looked at the online catalog for Burgess Plant and Seed. I found a Crimson Rose and a Yellow Rose that I wanted. The catalog showed that both roses were in stock and ready for shipment.

I immediately ordered both and paid with my credit card. The order number for this purchase was #[protected]. Burgess advised at that time, that the items would arrive at my home between 6-5-23 and 6-9-23.

On 6-10-23, I got on the Burgess website and checked my order. My order said that the items were available for shipping with an estimated shipping date between 6-12-23 and 6-17-23. I went onto my credit card account and saw that Burgess had debited my account for $58.18 on 5-23-23.

On 6-12-23, I got on the Burgess website and found that the items were still available but the shipping date had changed. The new estimated shipping date was 6-13-23 to 6-18-23.

On 6-13-23, I checked the website again and found that the items were still available with an estimated shipping date of 6-14-23 to 6-19-23.

At this time, I called their phone number [protected]) listed on their website and talked to a customer service representative (I did not get his name). After a few minutes, I asked to speak to his supervisor and was transferred to “Robin”.

Robin offered to refund the shipping on the order since it had been an extended period of time. He them said that it would take another 2 to 3 days for the roses to ship. I asked Robin if he had a supervisor and he told me that he had several supervisors. I asked him if I could speak to his supervisor and he transferred me to “Latasha” in Tennessee.

Latasha began by telling me about how great Burgess/Gurney was and that they had very few complaints. She then said that it is company policy that plants are not shipped until it is planting time for them. I told her that the roses I ordered showed that they were in stock and ready for shipping. She then told me that the order couldn’t be shipped for 2 to 3 days.

After talking with Latasha, I went back on to the Burgess website and look on their catalog for the roses I had ordered on 5-21-23. I found that both roses were now out of stock. I did know if it meant no further orders would be accepted or if my order would not be sent.

On 6-16-23, I thought I’d check my order status on the Burgess website and was surprised. The order number (#31410282900s) didn’t show the roses on the order. The only thing on the order was “Sweet Corn Honey ‘N’ Pearl Hybrid Kit” and it had been cancelled.

I immediately called their phone number [protected]) and was connected to a CSR name Ria. She had a very thick accent and I was unable to understand her. I asked where her call center was and she told me that it was in the Philippines. I told her that I was having a hard time understanding her and if she could transfer me to her supervisor. She put me on hold for a few minutes, then returned and told me no one was available.

I tried to get information on why the shipment was cancelled and why I was not notified by email. Since I was unable to communicate with Ria, I was not able to get that information.

It shows a severe lack of customer service to tell a customer that an item will be shipped and never ship it and ultimately cancel the order without telling to customer.

At this time, my credit card has not been refunded.

I will be posting this message on each and every “Review” website I can find. Burgess/Gurney should not be in business with the work ethic they have.

We ordered over $80.00 worth of plant from Burgess last spring. Many arrived in poor condition and many were already dead. One plant has flourished; the others all died. Received replacements in the fall for all but one of the remaining plants. These all died over the winter. The other plant arrived in May, but died within a couple of weeks of arrival. I have repeatedly contacted Burgess about this, but they would only offer a partial credit, without explaining why they weren't giving us the right amount. Now they claim the warranty is expired, but we contacted them well within the time limit; they were the ones who wasted that time. We have done all we could and all that was asked of us, yet we are being cheated of most of the credit due us.

In November 2020, I ordered almost $200.00 worth of plants from Burgess. I felt comfortable because they have been around for so long and they had a stated warranty. The problems:

* After a great deal of follow-up and ZERO response or communication from Burgess, I finally received my order... during the hottest, driest part of the year in August of 2020!

* Many of the trees I ordered were substituted for something else

* The trees were actually sticks which they referred to as having roots - these had none

* At the end of the year, only one thing was living, a spruce that had one side branch with green needles - it has since died too

* In the meantime, as I already experienced, no one answers their phone number instead, you have to leave a message... which is NEVER returned

* Finally, I got an email reply with a worthless $10.00 "replacement certificate" - Shipping alone from these crooks is over $10.00 - rest assured, I will never order anything else from them - instead, I will spread the word to the contrary (I've already stopped three friends from ordering - they knew I had ordered, and were going to do the same... They have been saved!)

Don't make the same mistake I made! Order local and spread the word! Notice that they don't even have a physical address!

I ordered plants 5/1 that said in stock. My first set of trees did not arrive for a few weeks. Everything else in my order was out of stock. The trees looks to be dead, but honestly it is hard to tell since they are so small. The second set from my order arrived a month later - out of the four "plants", three looked dead and the fourth packet contained nothing but dirt. I say "plants" because they were just roots. I wrote them and said it was a joke what they sent and that since the rest of my order wasn't due to be shipped until mid-July, I wanted it cancelled because that was too late to even matter at that point and that I didn't want more dead plants anyway. No reply was made. And I see the rest of my order was just shipped now anyways - at least before mid July but I suspect they will all be dead roots anyways.

Ordered 2 74424, 1 72744, 1 72415 on 4/5/22, order# [protected], ordered online, both products in stock. Burgess took my money immediately. Was told would receive 4/21/22, nope. Called for status, was told now 5/3/22, nope. Called for status, was told now 5/5/22- 5/6/22, nope5/13/22-5/18/22. nope, Now told would receive 5/6/22-5/10/22. This is Texas, no gardener in their right mind would plant trees/shrubs in June. Getting no response from Burgess except to keep pushing back my order. Burgess, show some integrity.

we brought 4 tomato trees. 3 were dead when we got them.

we planted them on Friday My 20th the day we got them.only one

made it.

I placed an order on 2/15/22 and still haven't received it. Every time I check the status, the shipping date is pushed farther back. It's currently 4/18-4/23, more than two months after they charged my credit card. I've chatted with their support several times and each time they promised to expedite the shipping but still nothing.

We ordered $280-ish worth of stuff in late 2020. Everything except 1 lilac arrived dead somewhere around June or July. Contacted Burgess and they agreed to send replacements great. But since it was so late in the growing season it would have to wait till the start of this year to get the replacements. Irritating but understandable. So this year rolls around and more and more time passes and I finally call them again and find out Burgess got bought by someone else.

Oh and they cancelled my replacement order.

Not happy. I ask for a refund and they refuse saying they don't have my money. They issue a Merchandise Certificate.

I find out that I have to do a phone in order to use it. I go to use the certificate and find out they marked it as used as soon as they issued it, marked it with zero value and they won't honor the order. And I'm out $280.

Not. Happy.

I ordered this Korean Fir tree and we received it and planted it on October 1, 2021. It immediately turned brown and we have watched it, watered it and done everything to take care of it properly. It has died and I would like another Korean Fir tree to be mailed to me to replace it. My information is as follows: Please e-mail me if you have questions at [protected]@frontier.com

Sue Castle
267 Madison Avenue
Madison, WV 25130
[protected]

I ordered Inferno canna - 3 for 14.99. I was so excited to plant them and see the bright colored foliage and orange flowers! To my disappointment, only one of the three had an orange flower. N0NE of the three had multi-colored foliage. Could you please send a package of 3 new bulbs OR my money back?
My email is [protected]@sio.midco.net
Thank you!

I received my order October 23, 2021 for 1 Sugar Maple $12.29 and 12 Painted Daisies for $13.99. Total $28.11. I only received 3 of the 12 daisies, where are my other 9!

- Order was in transit almost two months
- The arrived plants were poor quality, but husband planted them anyway and took care. No one show any growth
- Returned dead plants as a proof, by UPS
- Requesting Refund for money paid and processed by Bank
Complaint message sent by,
[protected]@gmail.com
Taylor, July 19/2021

I ordered my plants in March. They were in transit over two weeks. They arrived in terrible shape, but I planted them anyway to give them a chance.

I waited two weeks and then called the company to ask for a replacement. I was told O must send in the packing slip with a note about which plants needed replacement. No pictures of the dead plants accepted.

I sent a note with packing slip. Over two weeks later I got a note saying I needed to say which plants needed replacing. Resent letter several weeks ago.

Nothing yet!

Terrible company!

I placed an order on 3/11/21 and finally received it on 5/26/21, two months later. The order included the sub zero collection (NC 6843) which includes six rose stalks. The were all planted at the same time but only two have shown any growth, one `grew a flower, another some leaves and the remaining four stalks have had no growth and seem to be dead. I would appreciate your follow-up on this and resolution with a refund on these items.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Ita Isabel M. Dioguardi
PO Box 1692
825 Kingman Ave.Grants, NM 87020

I am writing this complaint in regards to package ID# [protected], 20 rose bushes and 4 cumberland raspberry bushes that are dead. I am requesting a refund on the bushes listed below because I have not been able to reach anyone at Burgess to handle the refund request. I also have photos of all the dead plants that I have listed below. you can email me back at [protected]@gmail.com or call at [protected].
2 pink weeping tree roses
2 scarlet weeping tree roses
4 sentimental rose
4 almost black rose
3 angel face
4 blaze rose
2 peace rose
4 cumberlamd raspberry
I look forward to hearing back from you in a timely manner Thank you have a great day!
Charles Blevins

Placed an ordered in April of different flowering plants with fertilizer. After many emails asking about the order that I did not receive a confirmation. I asked that they cancel they order in early June as I still didn't receive it and they gave me the run around about it. On July first the order arrived in a plastic bag with no support or protection. Tomorrow I will plant them but don't expect to get any results as it is way pasted the planting season.
I will never buy from this company again.

I am a Master Gardener in Ky. I have not ordered from Burgess in many years. I decided to order because of pricing, bad choice. I sent Burgess my mailing label and explained Angel Face climbing rose was of poor quality and has died. Then the Red and Blue Clematis failed to thrive. As of yesterday the pink pussy willows and Summer snow gardenia have also failed. I had prepared the soil to specific depth. Watered plants well daily and applied fertilizer as required by directions. I feel all was done properly but stock was weak.
Amanda Johnson, 101 Trammel Bend Ln. Alvaton, Ky. My copy is not as good as the original I sent them. There is a barcode [protected] another code bwmqejvexkoldswwcus. This will be the last order. I am involved with several Garden Clubs and I will be talking about this to find out if anyone else has had problems. I have heard nothing from them about the problem. This all happened in May. [protected]@bellsouth.net

Very frustrated. First, I receive these packages two months late. Second, I receive only 2/3 total that were supposedly shipped. Third, they were in piss-poor condition. The ostrich fern? Shoved in an obviously small plastic container, many fronds wer stuck in the plastic and were dying/dead by the time they arrived. I was NOT under the impression I was receiving sprouts or dormant starts, either. I read nothing about the Wisteria being dormant, nor the black current; and the ranunculus? Forget it. I spent $6 on three SEEDS? Again, under the impression of at MINIMUM starts or sprouts. I spent nearly $200 on, what I am very disappointed and reluctant to say, crap. The fern, the grass, and especially the Irish moss, were so disgustingly root bound I didn't know where to even start. The grass has yet to bounce back, and the moss hasn't grown even slightly since repotting. But the worst of all, id say easily, were the giant tomato trees. Four plants, right? Completely drenched in water, soaking, in a poorly packaged bag in a box, where one completely rotted in transport, while the other two took reporting twice to get stable. These were pathetic. And the wisteria? 2/3 have yet to even put on roots, and thats WITH rooting hormone after over two months. The single rose I ordered is also growing at a snails pace, but the red sedum is doing as poorly as the rest. A giant, MOLDY clump of roots, and only a total of three sprouts from the entire bundle.. the unlabeled bulbs are growing well, the trumpet vines are doing exceptional, and last of all, the lilac is unsatisfactory, but also at least growing.. Complete disbelief in the quality (lack thereof) now, on a side note, I wpuld like to point out an alarming amount of ants around the plants sent. This isnt an accusation, because I have had a problem in the past, but it they only affected the burgess plants and nothing else in my greenhouse. I dont know where they came from, but I really dont care. This is more of a worry that a complaint, so I'd like to point it out to keep an eye on in the future, for the both of us. I may be disappointed, but not enough to wish ants on another's greenhouse.
Desc. 13723536402598333B. I think that's the number of my order.

I ordered in April 2021. Finally, the shipment arrived today, 23 June. The plants were all packaged in a single bag. Not a box, nothing to protect them. Additionally, I ordered in APRIL for a reason. IT IS TOO HOT TO SHIP PLANTS IN A HEAT WAVE and if they did arrive intact (they did not), it is too hot and too late to plant them. I live in Nevada. I planned my planting accordingly, and ordered in APRIL for a reason.

Everything in this bag is crushed and dead - not even a chance. Shipping plants in a bag in 100+ degree weather? What is wrong you Burgess? Never again, I will be requesting a full refund and you can have your tried broken sticks back.

I placed an order with this company in March. After a month I inquired as to its status with no response. Twice more I inquired. Again. No response. There phone constantly rang busy.
Only after I filed a complaint with my credit card company and the charges reversed 2 months after the order was placed, was my order finally shipped. When it arrived all the plants were dead. Today I receive a letter from them demanding payment!
Burgess refuses to answer customer service inquired, ships dead plants and then tries to act like a victim. If they had answered my inquires, told me they had an issue with filling my order, I would have been understanding. Instead they chose to ignore and send an inferior product.